The fish that got away... twice

Not being much of a fisherman, I must share my only fishing story:

My dad and I hit Harwood Lake bright and early this morning.  Of the two of us, he's the fisherman.  I'm only occasionally along for the ride and might catch a fish or two depending on the day's luck.  After a period of no luck we moved around the lake trying to find a productive fishing hole.  We finally stumbled upon one and each caught a few blue gills and perch.  After just reeling one in and tossing it into the cooler I cast out to the same spot.  My bobber was gone in an instant and it was clear that the fish on the end of the line was no blue gill or perch from the way my fishing pole had nearly bent in half.  We both saw a quick glimmer of silver in the water and watched it disappear under the boat.  Snap!  My line broke and the bobber disappeared. 

Dad quickly went to work on the line and hooked up a new sinker, bobber, and hook.  We were back in business.  About a half an hour later, while keeping a watchful eye on my bobber and glancing occasionally at dad's, another bobber came into view about twenty feet from our boat.  I initially wondered if dad had tossed another line into the water, but then it became clear that this was my missing bobber.  I told dad about it and then it disappeared under the water.  I had flashbacks of the Jaws movie, where the huge shark announced it's presence with a reappearing buoy which had been hooked to it's mouth. 

The bobber reappeared near the same position, well out of reach from our anchored boat.  Dad suggested that he might be able to hook it with a treble hook.  We both knew it was a long shot, yet after about a dozen casts he hooked the bobber.  He quickly reeled the larceny suspect into the boat - hook, line, and sinker (bobber too).  The suspect was a decent sized bass, who happened to be an inch or two shy of the keeper measurement of 15''.  A mug shot was taken and the bobber thief was released with a verbal warning.

Thus the true story of two fisherman, two fishing poles, and the fish that got away twice.

The Me Monster

Brian Regan makes a great and humorous point.
But don't miss the main point:
There is a Me Monster living inside of every one of us.

It is a peculiar thing that humans are so obsessively mindful of themselves.  How could we think so highly of ourselves especially when we consider that:

• We are only individuals on a planet full of about 6.5 billion other individuals
• We did not chose to be born
• We did not chose where we were born, nor into which family
• We did not chose to be born blessed with eyes and ears that work
• Every heart beat is a gift which we did not earn
• Every breath of fresh air is enjoyed by lungs which we did not make
• One day we will all die and dissolve into dust
• One day almost everything we cherish will also dissolve into dust

This list could go on and on.  I wonder what you might add to the list?

It all reminds me of an intensely humbling verse of Scripture:
"What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"
- 1 Cor. 4:7b

Anger Issues?

A humorous strategy for anger management:



HT: Mystery Men

Hysterical!

Check out Abraham Piper's blog on mondegreen at 22 Words.

This has to be the funniest blog post & collection of comments I've ever encountered in the blogosphere. I repeatedly found myself laughing out loud.